For lovers of French + diehard fans of all things québécois!

Quebec accent: the Â sound… say AWW (#103)

This entry will provide you with a review of the â sound in Quebec French.

The series 30 vies takes place in a secondary school. No surprise then to hear the French word classe used in the dialogues.

In regular speech, classe is pronounced clâsse. How do you pronounce this accented letter â? Say “aww.”

This “aww” sound is one of the most distinguishing features of the Quebec French accent. This sound is often shown in French with the accented letter â, but not always.

When this sound is not written with the accented letter â, you’ll need to start listening for it to know when it’s used and when it’s not. Know that you never need to pronounce “aww” yourself to be understood, so no worries there.

For example, French speakers from Quebec will say “clawwss,” but if you said “clahhss,” you’d still be understood 100%.

Here are a few more words that use the â (aww) sound: gâteau, château, pâte, tasse, gaz, passer, tâche.

[This entry was inspired by the character Gabrielle in 30 vies, season 1, episode 6, Radio-Canada, Montreal, 18 January 2011.]